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A NONPARAMETRIC TEST FOR EXTINCTION BASED ON A SIGHTING RECORD
Author(s) -
Solow Andrew R.,
Roberts David L.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9658(2003)084[1329:antfeb]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - extinction (optical mineralogy) , nonparametric statistics , ecology , simple (philosophy) , computer science , test (biology) , statistics , mathematics , biology , paleontology , philosophy , epistemology
Extinctions of plant and animal species are rarely observed directly and must be inferred from sighting or collection records. The inference about extinction that can be drawn from a sighting record depends on the sighting rate. Existing methods assume that the form of the sighting rate is known and may be sensitive to deviations from the assumed form. A simple nonparametric test is proposed that makes minimal assumptions about the sighting rate. The test is illustrated by application to collection records of nine Mauritian orchid species. Corresponding Editor: B. Shipley